RICARDO B. SANCHEZ

Sometimes the essence of an image lies within one brushstroke, content within one word, truth within one subliminal gesture and sound within a single note.

Often this single brushstroke, one word, small gesture and single note take a great deal of searching to be found, hidden beneath all the obvious, undetectable to those who do not take the time to look for them, who may not even know how to look for them.

It takes a skilled eye, an extensive and marvellous mind with the soul of a child and enormous prestidigitation as a photographer to make these unique things in the every day life come visible, to visually sweep them up and give them a physical prominence, so that every one can see them.

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, this is true.

Ricardo B. Sanchez is able to translate the beauty that he sees onto film and into our hearts, “painting with light…" as he puts it and by looking at his images, artist and viewer shortly speak the same language connecting over graceful simplicity which has come to life.

I was born in Caracas, Venezuela on May 24th. 1953. I studied photography in the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston, which I combined with Political Science and History at Tufts University in Boston, USA. 1971-1975. I have subsequently lived and worked in Venezuela, the United States and Spain.

As a photographer I create forms by painting with light. Film (or a digital back) is my canvas, the camera and lenses are my brushes, and light is the paint with which I reproduce an image. I have been driven to discover what happens in the relationship between light and darkness, how fear and love interact in my life and the world at large. The complex art of living fascinates me and I think the fine arts are a sophisticated reflection of this art, of our choices. I feel the obvious is in many cases, what is least understood.

The notion that photography stops time only serves our memory, but the reality of life is that all things are impermanent, in a constant and unending flow of changes. So a photograph like all art forms, reminds us of what we can do to celebrate or condemn the very nature of our existence. It is a showcase for our achievements and contradictions. The ability to recreate a photographic vision is something akin to the realm of alchemy, magic, or the power of transformation.

I have always been intrigued by how photography allows me to create an illusion, a strange and idealized connection between the external world and what is inside of my head, heart, soul... My photographic work metaphorically illustrates concepts of identity, power, love, fear, manipulation, seduction, deception, illusion and truth, among others. Photography allows me to generate hope that some level of conscious transformation is possible; that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

H E I S T

HEIST is a forward-thinking contemporary photography collective that encourages engagement between collectors and artists from around the world, providing accessibility and informative understanding into the medium of fine-art photography.